Carradice Klikfix

[strictnaturist]

Dear Thorn people. Could anyone let me know if there are indeed two different ( and compatible) Carradice klikfix hook styles?
Don't know if it's my big banana fingers, but my new Super C panniers are a bugger to get off the Thorn front racks with the double top bar, and thats in the comfort of my kitchen. A cold living room might be even trickier   Could I switch them over to an easier release hook that will slide on to existing bag strip?
thanks again
Strictnaturist

[julk]

I had the same problem with cold fingers.
I retrofitted some Arkel Cam-Hooks to my Carradice Super C panniers.

The Arkel hooks come with their own support bar, you have to remove the Carradice one by drilling out the rivets and bolt the Arkel one in its place.
Quite simple to do and the Cam-Hooks are very easy in use.

[strictnaturist]

Thanks, just checked, they look brilliant,but I've just spent all my money on these bags for life. 
Are the different coloured Carradice hooks I can see online just for different width of rack bars etc, or are they different models of hooks that will open/close without having to poke your finger between two bars? I don't mind a bit of fiddling with stuff here and there to give it that specific function, but to have to remove bits and drill etc in to brand new bags   !!

[JimK]

Here is a shot of my bag mounted... maybe you can see if what I have matches what you have:

[JimK]

Here's another shot which maybe is clearer:

[JimK]

or again:

[ianshearin]

Jesus Jim, give that bike a bloody clean......

[strictnaturist]

thanks Jim, yep, its the same hooks. But cleaner
Is it just my fingers,or do you find it no probs getting the hook clicked opened between the top bars?

[strictnaturist]

me again...  ah! just realised they are called the "New C system hooks"  The "Klickfix"  (red ones) might be the older style, which look like they should fit on existing bag and open/close more easily from the top rather than trying to poke a finger between bars of front carrier.
This make sense?

[JimK]

getting the hook clicked opened between the top bars?

Maybe it's the technique. Mostly I am using those top tabs that stick up. I push those away from the bag, which rotates the lower hook away from the rack. The lower hook is snapped in place a bit, so I do need to get my finger in there. Mostly I just pull the end of that lower hook up a little. This frees the hook, so the torque I am applying through the upper tab can now swing the hook away from the rack.

Thumb pushing hard on the upper tab to move in away from the bag, while the index finger pokes down to lift the end of the hook to free it - that seems to work nicely.

Hope this makes sense... and works for you!

[il padrone]

I think I'll stick with the Ortliebs  

[NZPeterG]

Maybe it's the technique. Mostly I am using those top tabs that stick up. I push those away from the bag, which rotates the lower hook away from the rack. The lower hook is snapped in place a bit, so I do need to get my finger in there. Mostly I just pull the end of that lower hook up a little. This frees the hook, so the torque I am applying through the upper tab can now swing the hook away from the rack.

Thumb pushing hard on the upper tab to move in away from the bag, while the index finger pokes down to lift the end of the hook to free it - that seems to work nicely.

Hope this makes sense... and works for you!

Jim you have said it so well 
I would not get Ortlieb's! because!

1/ I like my bags hand made 

2/ I do not like PVC

Pete . . .
 

[il padrone]

Ah, yes



Yeah, Ortliebs are made of a PVC fabric. I hope by using them I use a bit less oil and rubber, and produce less CO2 from driving my car about instead.

Fabrics? Ever heard of cotton - cotton is a fibre commonly used for fabrics, Carradice I think

Serious concerns are often raised about exploitative working conditions in the factories that make cheap clothes for the high street.
Child workers, alongside exploited adults, can be subjected to violence and abuse such as forced overtime, as well as cramped and unhygienic surroundings, bad food, and very poor pay. The low cost of clothes on the high street means that less and less money goes to the people who actually make them.
Cotton provides much of the world’s fabric, but growing it uses 22.5% of the world’s insecticides and 10% of the world’s pesticides, chemicals which can be dangerous for the environment and harmful to the farmers who grow it. (Ethical Fashion Forum)
Current textile growing practices are considered unsustainable because of the damage they do to the immediate environment. For example, the Aral Sea in Central Asia has shrunk to just 15% of its former volume, largely due to the vast quantity of water required for cotton production and dying. (Ethical Fashion Forum)

We know all about this sort of issue in the Murray-Darling Basin here in Australia. Ask someone from Adelaide.

Just saying, all sorts of human activities have serious environmental, human health and social impacts. Yes, we need to balance our lifestyle choices, over a whole range of maters. I do think it's rather a big leap to castigate just Ortlieb as planet-rapers. Probably more PVC in your home wiring than in those panniers.


Re. PVC - It has some significant climate-change benefits compared to many other materials. Less energy use, lower CO2 emissions, long service life and 100% recyclable. We simply need to develop the recycling facilities to deal with it.

And change is happening in the industry since the initial PVC castigating by Greenpeace

The relationships may be hard to chart, but the results aren’t. Amongst the original EU-15 signatories, the use of lead has been cut by 50% in favour of calcium-based stabilisers, and it’s set to be phased out completely in all EU-27 countries by 2015. Post-consumer recycling has reached nearly 195,000 tonnes, largely due to financial incentives offered by Recovinyl – whose establishment was one of the outcomes of the Vinyl 2010 exercise. PVC is 100% recyclable, and can be broken down mechanically (ground into small pieces that can be reprocessed) or chemically.

As for phthalates, risk assessments have now identified two key areas for attention: their use in medical equipment, and the effect of emissions on ecosystems and populations located near PVC conversion plants.

[JimK]

Yeah, it is a nice puzzle, how to live in a way that helps promote general planetary welfare, trying to participate as little as possible in the on-going destruction of societies, eco-systems, etc.

I amaze myself with all the contortions and absurdities I catch myself up in. I am convinced that the most important direction to work in is LESS. For example, it is nice to build a house with all sort of environmentally friendly materials and good insulation to burn less fuel to heat etc. But the biggest factor is just to reduce the size of the house!

I am convinced that I could live very happily with just a few possessions, ah, if they are just the RIGHT possessions. I could have just maybe two or three shirts, if they were just the right shirts. But I never seem to find just the right shirts. I will buy a couple shirts that seem to have all the right qualities to be just the RIGHT shirts, but very quickly I see that they actually aren't quite up to snuff and I find that maybe these other shirts are in fact the sorts of shirts that would let me get by with just two or three. So I buy a few of those, convinced that I finally have found the RIGHT shirts. Run that cycle a half dozen times or so, and voila, a closet full of shirts. So much for simplicity!

My current theory is that I will not let myself buy another bike - ah, that Audax Mk3! - until I have get my BMI down from 25 to 21. What is the point of a lighter bike when there is all this flab around my mid-section?

Thank you, Danneaux, for your wonderful reports of centuries rides on your Nomad. If such things are presently beyond my capability, IT AIN'T THE BIKE!

Or the shirt, either!

[StuntPilot]

I was all set for the Carradice solution and started looking at the clips for rack attachment. I emailed Carradice asking if they had a larger hook system.
The tube covered Thorn racks (15mm diameter with the tube fitted) are shown here ... http://www.thorncycles.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=4290.msg20452#msg20452

The reply from Carradice ...

No the C System hooks have never fitted up to 16mm diameter.  We can't change the hooks often as it costs a fortune for the mould to be changed so we stick with the same ones.   The only change has been from the red to the grey locking pieces which is several years ago.

The only option would have been the Rixen & Kaul Modul system which we tried for a short time but found it to be unsatisfactory - particularly for fully laden Super C panniers and we don't have any of these left.

Furthermore I think that the current Carradice clip is great for racks up to 12mm diameter, i.e. on an uncovered 10mm rack, or with some old inner tube to protect the rack.

For that reason my ecological purchase attempts had to move elsewhere. I did not want PVC racks due to the environmental concerns so went with the Ortlieb Front and Back Roller Plus models. The material is supposed to be more environmentally friendly and the solid Ortlieb clips fit racks of up to 16mm diameter. Ortlieb supply fittings to fit on smaller diameter racks but there were reports that these are easily misplaced on the road.

I love the Carradice bags as well as the Ortlieb Roller Plus line. In the end it was down to my requirement for a 15mm hook diameter. The Roller Plus range may not be as environmentally friendly as cotton, but they will last a long time and could be recycled in the future.

The Arkel hooks look like a great solution for the Carradice Super C.